American Symbols Part II

We had a wonderful time learning about the symbols of America.  Here is a peek at some of our learning.

Patriotic Hearts  After learning about the colors of our flag, students weaved these hearts.  I added their photo to the star.

Liberty Crowns  This is one of my favorite crafts.  To make, I draw the crown onto a 18x12 construction paper and cut.

 Drawing Lady Liberty With the help of this You Tube video, I was able to teach my students how to draw the Statue of Liberty.  I originally saw this here and here.

Bald Eagles We completed this shared writing to go along with our art from Mrs. Jump's unit.

I loved how patriotic our classroom looked.


Happy Learning and Teaching!

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March Book Picks

Here are my book picks for March. I hope you will join me in sharing what you are reading this month.



Books for Read Across America







All About Weather
Between assessments and report cards,  I hope to have time to teach about the weather.  Here are some of the books that I will be using.

 




St. Patrick's Day
Since this is not necessarily a holiday that aligns to our kindergarten standards, I will read a few books but incorporate the "theme" into my math and literacy centers.  Am I the only one who finds this an odd holiday to explain to little ones?




Why should you link up?
I hope you will join me in celebrating the love of reading and sharing that joy with the children we teach.  Oftentimes, we get boggled down with the "have to's" in reading.  Let's celebrate sharing the written word with children.  I really do hope that when my students grow up, they will consider themselves a reader!

Graphics by: ©Kelli Vander Veen

I hope you will link up any book or books that you will be reading this month. Simply copy the image and use it with your post.  If you don't have a blog, please feel free to comment your suggestions.


Happy Teaching and Learning!
 

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Learning how to Retell

There are so many elements when teaching young children how to read.  Many of my kids are so excited about the fact that they can read the words.  Our next hurdle has been to think and understand what we read.  I have been using this graphic organizer to help my students retell fiction stories.

To introduce this concept, I used familiar texts that my students knew a lot about.  I wanted them to focus on the comprehension and not "learn" a new story.  As we filled out the graphic organizer, we retold the story bit by bit.  We did it whole group or with a partner.

As you can see, the retell includes pictures and words.  I like this because it helps to "trigger" what to say.  It also asks them to think about the story rather than just learning the terms beginning, middle and end.  I don't know about your students but mine take that term literally.  Many times opening right to the middle of a book.  I also like that it is related to the Common Core; a direction that I am trying to move my teaching.

Would you like a copy of this to use with your students? Included is the graphic organizer and text to make a teacher poster like shown above.

What do you do to help young readers with comprehension?  I am looking for books and ideas to explicitly teach inference.  Any suggestions?  Your comments and feedback is appreciated.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Math Centers - February Edition

Here is a peek at what our centers look like this month.


Race to $1.00

Graphics by Scrappin' Doodles

Students roll a dice until they have 25 cents which they trade for a quarter.  Game continues until someone wins the $1.


Nuts about Counting

A freebie by Lil' Country Kindergarten.  Get yours here.  My kids really like this center!


Peanut Butter and Jelly Addition

Graphics by Lettering Delights

Inspired by the book, Peanut Butter and Jelly, I created this simple addition center for my students.



Zoo Train

This addition center is from Kinder by Kim.  I have used this every year I teach addition.  Lots of times this includes animal cracker cookies but for this center we used animal counters.  I love her items! Check her out!

Tooth Fairy Counting

This adorable dental health freebie comes from Can Do Kinders.  I used white beads as counters.

Scoop and Count: V-day Edition

My kids loved last month's Snowman Scoop and Count that I made this one to use with Conversation Hearts.  I bought big and small hearts to vary it up.  It's a big hit.  Click on the image to get yours.  

A big shout out to all the teachers who have shared their creations with me and others.  I appreciate your hard work.  My kids love learning from you!

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Patriotic Heart Weaving

Looking for an easy to do item to teach American symbols. I love incorporating this simple paper weaving craft with the colors of our American flag.

I pre-cut the heart for my students. While the heart is folded in half, I lightly draw lines for them to cut. Students use strips on paper to weave into their heart. Cut excess strips to form the shape of the heart and glue down if needed.

I love how this look on display in our classroom!

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Wheel of ....

LEARNING!

My students have had a blast learning from this interactive tool.  Thank you, Fran!


Take a look at some of the games we've played.

For this game, students practice blending CVC words.  I selected a consonant.  Students, then, blended the word.  As we played, we decided if the word was real or nonsense.

We practiced making rhymes.  This seemed so much more engaging to my students.  It also was a great way to see which students needed more help.  Next time, I would partner students.

Click image for your copy.

Their favorite game was Spin a Sight Word. My kids were all smiles and cheering.  I wrote six sight words and had one space for Free Choice and another was Erase 1.  They loved when the spinner landed on Free Choice.  They cheered! They practiced reading and writing the words and they didn't know it!  Sneaky.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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